To the Pain
by Redmage2
Summary: A summary would ruin one of the best things about this story, so I'll simply say this: Gai. Kakashi. A fight. HUMOR!


Summary: A summary would really ruin the buildup of the story. So I'll just say this. Gai. Kakashi. A fight. HUMOR!

And for the record, I'm going to say they're about...sixteen. And we'll say Kakashi has the sharingan.

To the Pain

"Rival Kakashi! I challenge you to a fight!" Startled pedestrians scattered, trying to get away from the noisy, green jumpsuit-clad adolescent, who appeared suddenly with a puff of smoke, right in the center of the sidewalk in one of the busiest parts of town.

With a patience and calm cultivated from years of interacting with the enthusiastic ninja, Kakashi simply stopped walking and sighed. "I just got done training, Gai. I'm really not in the mood."

"Aha! So you forfeit to Konoha's Proud Green Beast! That makes my record fifteen to your seventeen, rival!"

Kakashi blinked in surprise. "You've been keeping track?"

"Of course! I must remember the important victories of my youth!"

Kakashi paused, glancing at his self-appointed rival, whose entire mood seemed to be inviting him to accept the challenge. "Maa, I suppose I'll do it," Kakashi agreed reluctantly, bowing to Gai's enthusiasm.

"I will win this fight!" Gai declared loudly and enthusiastically, causing the remaining people in the street to look at him apprehensively. The green-clad ninja remained oblivious to their reactions as he clenched his fist with determination and his eyes flamed with the fervor of his vow.

Kakashi sweatdropped and started walking to one of the training areas, leaving Gai with the villagers of Konoha as an audience. A few seconds later, Gai peeked over at where Kakashi had been standing to see the impact of his speech.

"WHAT?!" Gai quickly scanned the street for the distinctive silver hair of his rival, and spotted him almost a block away. "Such a nonchalant exit, Kakashi! Even in the face of this challenge, you remain as cool as ever!" Gai muttered agitatedly.

Quickly working his way through the pedestrians, Gai made his way to Kakashi's side and pointed an accusing finger at him. "You were trying to skip out on our fight!"

Kakashi glanced at his companion out of the corner of his eye. "Actually, I was going to the training grounds."

Gai blinked, before giving Kakashi a wide grin. "That's the kind of thinking I would expect from the man who is my eternal rival!"

As his smile sparkled, Kakashi speatdropped again. Eternal?

The two soon reached a clearing in near the outskirts of the village. Kakashi took in the surrounding trees and the small lake to his left before turning to Gai. "Here good?"

Gai jumped to the opposite side of the clearing and gave Kakashi an enthusiastic thumbs up before adopting the more serious expression he reserved for fighting.

"Rules?" Kakashi asked, taking his hands out of his pockets.

After he looked the clearing over carefully, Gai spoke. "The first one to leave the clearing or get knocked out loses."

Kakashi nodded his assent. "Let's go then," he said, reaching up and pushing his forehead protector above his red eye.

"Ah, I'm glad to see you are serious about this fight at last, rival," Gai said. "I'll end it quickly with my new technique."

Kakashi watched the other ninja carefully, planning his movements so he could position Gai in front of the water. As ridiculous as that jumpsuit looked, it blended in well with the trees and grass all around the clearing. With Gai's speed, even an instant's hesitation from not noticing his disappearance could mean being hit with a powerful iron fist attack. Or a new variation of the lotus, Kakashi thought with a grimace, lightly touching his vest over the spot where his ribs had been broken a few months ago by one such attack.

Kakashi sidestepped to the right a few paces, trying to get some reaction from Gai, who was being unusually patient. Then, just as he was planning on initiating an attack, Gai vanished. Kakashi leapt a few feet in the direction of Gai's former position and twisted, anticipating an attack from the ground.

None was forthcoming. Kakashi landed with a frown and quickly looked from side to side for his opponent. Suddenly, from behind him, Gai spoke. "You reacted just as I hoped! Konoha Ancient Taijutsu Supreme Technique..."

Kakashi tried to turn around, but Gai had already struck.

"One Thousand Years of Pain!"

His face twisted in discomfort, Kakashi went flying through the air and into the small lake, hitting the water near the far bank. He sank a few feet into the water before floating back up to the surface. "Ow..." he groaned.

"I told you my new technique would win this fight!" Gai laughed triumphantly.

Kakashi pulled his forehead protector down over his sharingan, but remained floating in the water. "Who would actually teach you a technique like that?"

"Ha ha ha! It worked, though!" Gai grinned at his floating rival.

Kakashi sighed and waded to shore. He slowly raised his gaze to look up at Gai. "Maa, what's the record now?"

* * *

If you don't know what 1000 Years of Pain is...in Sakura's words, it's a "super powerful ass-poke." Now go watch episode 4.

A/N: Yes, I came up with this idea instead of working on So Near, So Far. SORRY!! I was struck earlier today (when I was driving on the highway, actually...had to scribble a few notes while trying not to hit other cars -.-;;) by the thought that since chidori is Kakashi's only original attack, he must have learned 1000 Years of Pain from someone...

This was actually rather painful for me to write. I totally adore Kakashi (can we say obsessed fangirl?), and I've never liked Gai, even before I knew he was Kakashi's rival :p He and Lee both really creep me out. Plus, they are waaaay too enthusiastic about everything. In any event, this story wasn't so easy to write, first of all because I didn't want to subject my poor Kakashi to that technique, but from the beginning, I knew it had to be done. Then, as I was writing, I was bothered by how many exclamation points I was using, but that also couldn't be helped, since that's pretty much how Gai talks half the time. I didn't want to go over the top with the stereotypical "glory of youth" and "eternal rival" stuff, so hopefully I didn't. If he (or Kakashi, but I think Gai is the bigger problem) seems out of character, any constructive criticism would be welcomed on how I can improve him (or about anything else, for that matter). I kind of made him like himself grown up, only a little more hyper. Or maybe he's the same.

The last thing that was difficult was the fight scene, which is why it's so short. I have no idea how Gai would fight against an equal, as opposed to those pussy Sound ninjas who we saw in the chuunin exam. And it seems to me that he would be the one to dictate how the fight would go, since Kakashi tends to use variations of his opponents' techniques against them. I'm sure Gai has some pretty powerful moves, but the only stuff of his we actually see is basic taijutsu and the renge, which he must know, since he taught it to Lee. So, I ended up mentioning that here. The initial renge doesn't do any MAJOR (and by that I mean permanently debilitating) damage, so it's plausible that he might use it in a fight against his rival. Although, in hindsight, I suppose I could have had him summon his turtle.

Nah.


End file.
